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Friday, 28 March 2014

Nina Harrington: Kick-Ass Girls for Kick-Arse Readers

Today I'm
joined by the delightfulNina Harrington, whose most
recent noveldemonstrates a foray
into the world of Romance Suspense by the award-winning author. InDeadly
Secrets Anna Pefanis rushes to Kefalonia after her godmother is
violently attacked, unafraid to share a hovercraft with heavily armed Special
Forces headed in the same direction. Utterly engaging, Anna is indicative
of a growing love for strong, 'kick-ass' heroines. Nina talks about the
female sleuth in contemporary crime fiction:

I am looking at my keeper bookshelf right now and my eyes instantly hone in on some of my favourites:

*Janet Evanovich’s One for the Money

*Gemma Halliday’s Spying in
High Heels

*Lisa Lutz’s Curse of the
Spellmans

*Kyra Davis’s Sex, Murder
and a Double Latte

*Angie Fox’s The Accidental
Demon Slayer

*Jennifer Crusie’s Faking It

*Darynda Jones’s First Grave
on the Right

*Charley Davidson’s PI and
Grim Reaper Extraordinaire

*Toni McGee Causey’s Charmed
and Dangerous

And lots more contemporary crime fiction featuring a female main character who drives the action. She might not always get her man. But she owns that story.

And that does not include my eBook collection and the books on other shelves from authors such as Tess Gerritsen and Tami Hoag. Two gals who know how to blend hard crime, police procedurals and kick-ass heroines such as female cops and surgeons.

And then there is my science fiction or DVD collection which includes:

*Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games; *Max from Dark Angel; *Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the eponymous heroine of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and of course Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. Science
Fiction is full of them – which is one of the reasons why I think that this genre attracts a powerful female readership.

This is a fairly eclectic mix for a
contemporary romance author.

But what makes these female characters
so very special? So entertaining and appealing?

There is one thing running through all
of my favourite crime and romantic crime reading. Humour and wit.

I feel that you need that element of
light relief to balance out the weight of the crime or mystery, especially when
there is violence and abuse involved. The pages of any novel should take us to
a new world where we go on a journey with our heroine and our hero, as a reader
I expect to be entertained.

When we pick up a crime book, we know
that the main plot will be driven by the investigation of the crime, whether it
is by police officers or private investigators or amateur sleuths, and the
search for justice and the truth.

For me those strands of humour and
witty banter between the interesting characters are the extra layers that make
that investigation come to life and sparkle and keep us engrossed. How are
these characters we care about going to cope with all of the challenges and
twists and turns the story will throw at them? That is what keeps us up at
night, turning the pages to find out what happens next.

For me some of the key aspect of these
characters are:

They keep their eyes on the prize and won’t be distracted.

They take charge.

They are not afraid to do the exact opposite of what people expect them to do - in fact they welcome the opportunity.

They dress the way they want and act the way they want – sometimes outrageously, and seriously don’t care about other people’s opinions.

They like the boys just fine – but those boys had better be as good as they are when it comes to the task in hand or they are out the door.

Most of the girls are carrying a lot of baggage from their past which can weight them down life. But they find a way to have fun and they always achieve what they set out to do. Save the cake shop, save the planet. Give the girl the job – they’ll see it through.

That self-assurance comes from a deep
core of self-confidence and self-belief in themselves and what they can achieve.

They don’t need anyone’s permission to
be who they are. They know who they are, faults and all. And that’s okay.

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About Me

Ali Williams grew up in Croydon and spent her teenage years in a convent
girls' school. She then fled to university where she discovered
champagne cocktails, a capella singing and erotica.

These days she blogs
about perceptions of romance, chick lit and women in society and spends
an extraordinary amount of time coercing male friends to pose with her
favourite Mills & Boon books to the bemusement of the Twittersphere.